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 THIS IS HOW YOU DIED

Welcome to Muldraugh, Kentucky - population 3566.

Just how many of that number are still alive is
another story, but were definitely in the minority

Dont let the title of this guide fool you, youll be

joining the dead soon enough, the only question is
the how and the when. Will you go down fighting off a
Zombie horde, guns blazing, or will you succumb to
sickness, thirst, or starvation first?

This guide will give you some basic information, and

if youre careful, play smart, and plan ahead then
maybe, just maybe youll survive a little longer

PLEASE NOTE:

This guide is written for the current Public Test

Build of Project Zomboid, which at the time of
writing this is RC 2.9. More information can be
found here:
http://projectzomboid.com/blog/2011/04/buildstatus/
 TITLE SCREEN
From the main title screen you can choose Options,
allowing you to change various game preferences like
screen resolutions, key bindings, and more. The title screen
is also where you can choose the Survival or Sandbox
game modes.

The Title Screen:

SURVIVAL OR SANDBOX?
Survival is the standard and official way to play the game. It is
designed to be extremely difficult to survive for long periods of
time, and doing so should be a massive achievement. After dying
you will get the you survived for message.

Sandbox mode gives you additional options, allowing those

players looking for different experiences, or with different tastes
or skill levels, the option of customizing the gameplay in a
multitude of ways.
 OPTIONS MENU
This is where you can change various options for the game,
including display settings, key bindings, and reloading
difficulty.

Display Options:

Display:
Choose your screen resolution, and enable or disable
fullscreen mode.

You can also choose the level of video card memory the game
will address, and whether to enable video shaders.

(The video card memory and shaders may assist if you are
having trouble running the game smoothly).
Key Bindings:
Change/edit the default keybindings to suit your playing
style. The default keyboard commands are shown below:

Key bindings:

PLEASE NOTE:

This guide will cover mouse and keyboard controls,

but you can also use an Xbox 360 controller, or other
compatible gamepad to play the game. We will cover
the basic gamepad controls at the end of this guide.
Reloading:
This option sets the default difficulty for the technique used
when reloading pistols in the game. The three options are Easy,
Normal, and Hardcore. The default mode is set to Easy.

In Easy mode, if you have a pistol and suitable ammunition in

your inventory, you can right-click on the pistol and choose
reload. (If you already have the pistol equipped as your primary
weapon, you can press the R key to perform this function).

In Normal mode, you need to right-click the pistol and eject the
magazine first. Then, you can right-click on the magazine and
choose reload. Finally, you can right-click on the pistol and
choose insert magazine. (If the pistol is already equipped,
pressing R will eject/insert the magazine).

In Hardcore mode, as well as having to eject the magazine to

reload it, then insert the magazine into the pistol, you also have
to rack the slide to chamber a round before firing with a fresh
magazine. This is done by pressing the space bar.

Reload Options:
 SURVIVAL
*NOTE*: Survival and Sandbox games both use the same
basic gameplay mechanics. We will be looking at the Survival
mode, but will cover some of the differences in the Sandbox
mode later in this guide.

After Clicking on Survival, you will have the option to either

load a previously saved game or, or start a new game. To
start a new game, first type a name for the Save Game:

Save Game Screen:

PLEASE NOTE:

How to save a game? You cannot quick save your

progress. Instead, when you exit Project Zomboid,
your game will be automatically saved. When you die
in the game, your world will still be saved when you
exit. This means that you can reload that world
again, but you will need to start as a new character.
CHARACTER MENU
The Customise Character and Select Occupation
and Traits screens allow you to generate or create a
new character, choose an Occupation, and assign
them extra traits.

Customise Character Screen:

Customise Character
Type a name for your character; choose your gender, body
type, hair type and colour, and facial hair as required.
Alternatively, you can keep clicking on Random to have a
character generated for you, and then make any changes
to suit. You can use the left and right arrows below the
image of your created character to rotate and view them
from different angles.
Occupation and Traits Screen:

Occupation and Traits

You can choose from several occupations. Each has one or
more base traits, which offer specific benefits in-game.
For Example, the Fire Officer has the Axeman trait
offering faster axe swing and door-breaking speed.

Once you have chosen your occupation, you can either

start the game, or choose from additional traits. For
example, the Athletic trait gives you faster running
speed, and you can run for longer without tiring. Have a
look through the traits, and their description to see what
affect they will have on your character.

PLEASE NOTE:
All traits, both good and bad, have a cost associated
with them. You CANNOT start a game if your total points
are in negative figures. For example, the Athletic trait will
cost you -6 points, so you would need to choose some
negative traits, (like Weak), that add up to at least 6
points before you could start the game.
 Welcome to Muldraugh
Hide, fight, scavenge, build, its all up to you now. If
theres one piece of advice I can give you, its find a
weapon and fast. If all you can find is a damn pen,
its still better than trying to kill one of those things
with your bare hands, although running might be
better still

THE GAME WORLD

Your character will spawn in a random location in
the game world of Muldraugh..
You will start the game with little or no supplies, so
before venturing outside, search your spawn house
thoroughly. A weapon might be a good start

A Fresh Start:
 GAME HUD
The main game HUD consists of the main world view, and several
screen elements displaying information about your character and
his/her surroundings, including any weapons equipped, the date
and time, weather conditions, health, inventory, and Moodles.

HUD Elements:

1 Primary Weapon/item 2 Secondary Weapon/Item

3 Main Inventory 4 Health

5 Inventory Window 6 Loot all Window

HUD Elements:

7 Current Date and Time

8 Time Control

9 Moodles
 MOODLES
Moodles offer a graphical indication of the current
emotional and/or physical state of your character.
For example, the Tired moodle lets you know that
your character needs to rest, or sleep.

Most moodles have several levels of severity. The

Tired moodle for example, may range from Drowsy,
to Exhausted. When you see a moodle, hold your
mouse over the icon for more detailed information.

Moodles:

PLEASE NOTE:
Youll discover various other Moodles while playing. We
wont go into depth in this guide, as theyre easy to
understand, and to remedy. For example, for the Hunger
Moodle, eat something, Tired Moodle, rest or sleep etc.
 MOVEMENT
Move your character using the WASD keys. This will
make your character walk in the relevant direction.
To run, hold down the shift key while moving. To
sneak/aim, hold down the CTRL key - your character
will move slower, but quieter, which can assist
avoiding detection.

PLEASE NOTE:
You can also use mouse controls to move your
character. Hold down the right mouse button, and
drag the pointer in the direction you want to move. If
the mouse pointer is close to your character, they will
walk, move the mouse pointer further away, and they
will run in that direction.

Climbing
Sometimes, you will need to climb, such as to get
over a short fence, or to enter/exit a building
through an open window. To climb, when facing a
fence or window, press and hold the E key for a
moment.
Climbing a fence:
Fight or flee?
No matter how safe you play it, how quiet or careful you are,
youre going to have to fight at some stage. Whether its a
couple of Zombies that you stumble upon while searching a
house, or a horde shambling into view as you turn a corner,
youre going to need skill, tactics, and a fair amount of luck
to save your skin. Sometimes, running is the smarter option

COMBAT
Holding CTRL will put the player into a combat stance with
whatever weapon is equipped in the primary slot. Clicking the left
mouse button will use the weapon, (swing a bat, stab with a knife,
or shoot a firearm etc.)
You can charge your weapon, (except firearms), by holding the
left mouse button for longer before releasing. This will cause
more damage to your target.
You need to aim with the mouse pointer where you want to strike.
TIP: If you knock a Zombie to the ground, you can finish them off
before they can get back up by standing over them and attacking.

Combat Mode:
 Knock them down:

Finish them off:

 INTERACTION
To interact with objects or items in the game world, you can use
several techniques:
Left-click with your mouse, pressing the Action key, (defaulted
to E), or right-clicking and choose an option from the context-
sensitive menu. For example, if you are in front of a closed door,
you can left-click to attempt to open it, press E to try and open
it, or right-click and choose Open Door from the options.

NOTE: Right-clicking with the mouse will also offer other options
not otherwise available with items. If you right-click on a locked
window for example, you will see this option:

Breaking and entering:

PLEASE NOTE:
Another way to smash a locked window is to rapidly tap
the E key. Be aware, if you smash a window without a
primary weapon equipped, you will cut yourself.
 INVENTORY
You can open your main inventory from the window near the top
of your screen. If this window is closed, you can open it again by
pressing I, or clicking on the box icon at the left of your HUD:

Open or close
Inventory window

Inventory
window

Manipulating items
To use or manipulate items in your inventory, right-click the
item and choose from the available actions. To drop an
item, highlight it and click on the drop button:

Right-click options: Drop option:

 Multiple items
To select multiple items, shift-click on the items you want,
or click and drag a box around them. *NOTE*: When drag-
selecting, click and drag from an empty space beside the
items you want to select:

Shift-select: Drag-select:

Click

Drag

Weight Limits
All items have an associated weight, e.g. an apple has a weight of
0.2, whereas a baseball bat weighs 1.5. At the start of the game,
you can carry a maximum weight of 8, (Unless you chose the
Strong trait which starts with max weight of 16). Once you go
past this figure, you wont be able to run, and your speed will be
heavily reduced:

Weight limit Exceeded: Heavy Load Moodle:

Sharing the load
If you have exceeded the maximum weight limits, you can either
drop/use some items, or if you are carrying a bag, move some
items to it. There are several types of bags to be found in
Muldraugh, ranging from a basic plastic one, up to a big hiking
pack. The better bags will let you carry more/heavier items. To use
them, you just drag items from your inventory or other containers
directly to the bag:

Drag items to the bag icon:

New icon, new options:

When you have a bag in your inventory, you will have a new icon
beneath your main inventory icon. Select this to display the
contents of the bag. When selecting an item from your bag, you
will have a new option unpack. Selecting this will unpack the
items and move them back to your main inventory:

Show bag inventory: The unpack option:

 LOOTING
You will find various items essential to prolonging your survival
scattered around Muldraugh. You can search and loot most
containers you discover cupboards, crates, refrigerators,
drawers, even the bodies of dead Zombies. To loot a container,
left-click on them, and any contents should be shown in the
Loot all window. Alternatively, when standing near containers,
you can click on the various container icons that will appear in
the Loot all window. This can be helpful when several
containers are grouped together, e.g. a row of cupboards, or
several crates.

Loot all window:

Container icons:
Select from
different objects
to search.

Contents of
Refrigerator

PLEASE NOTE:
The blue and white chequered icon represents the
floor/ground. Selecting this icon will display any items
available there.
ALL GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME
Many actions in the game take a set amount of time to
perform: eating, drinking, sorting/moving items in your
inventory, reloading firearms etc. A small progress bar will
appear over your characters head as this is happening. Some
actions will take longer if the item is currently not in your main
inventory. For example, to eat an item that is in your bag, you
can unpack the item to your main inventory, and then eat it, or
right-click on the food item and choose eat, which will
automatically unpack the item first before consuming.

Packing items to bag:

Action progress bar:

CRAFTING
You can use two or more items together to perform additional
actions, create new items, improve existing items etc.

As long as you have all the necessary items in your inventory,

right-clicking on the item will give you additional actions that
can be performed. For example, if you have a hammer, nails, and
wood in your inventory, you can right-click in the game-world for
building options.

Another example, if you have the can opener and some canned
food in your inventory, then right-clicking on the canned food
will give you the option to open the can:

Basic crafting:

PLEASE NOTE:
There are many other crafting functions and recipes in
the game, but well let you discover those for yourself!
 BUILDING
Once you have the appropriate items in your inventory, the
right-click function will give you access to the Build Menu,
which has options to build items, such as a simple wooden
fence, staircases, tables, and much more. Select the item,
and place in the game world with left-click. Press R to
rotate the item before placing.

The Build Menu:

Building Info
The different items you can build each have their own
requirements to craft them, and can be seen in the info panel
for that item. If you dont currently have the required items,
or skill level, the item name will be displayed in red. In the
example above, you still need 3 planks, 2 hinges, and a door
knob to craft the wooden door.
 Back-breaking work
Some of the materials used in building items are very heavy,
and trying to carry too much in your main inventory will
quickly exhaust, and possibly injure you. However, you can
drop items on the ground, and as long as they are close to
where you want to build, will be available for that item. Eg:
place a pile of planks on the ground and they will be available
to build and item with, even though not in your inventory.

Piles of planks:

PLEASE NOTE:
If the pile of items is not close enough to where you
want to build, you will not be able to use them.

Too far away Items available

FARMING
Similar to building, once you have the appropriate items in
your inventory, the right-click function will give you access to
commands to allow you to sow, plant, grow, and harvest a
variety of vegetables. The first item you need is the Trowel,
to dig/plough a plot of land. Once you have the trowel, right-
clicking on the ground will give you the option to dig.
*NOTE*: The trowel will automatically be equipped in your
primary slot when you dig.

Can you dig it?

Choose location
Choose where you
want to place
your plot, then
left-click to dig at
that location.

Ploughing:
Seeds and Sowing
Before you can plant any seeds, you will need the seeds in
your inventory. To do this, you need to open a packet of seeds
by right-clicking on them from your inventory. Once done, you
can right-click the plot of ploughed lad and sow the seed.
Some basic information regarding the plant, and water
requirements will be displayed.

Open seed packet:

Sow the seed and info panel:

 Plant info and Watering
Now that you have sown the seeds, if you right-click on the
plot, and choose Info you will see some information
regarding the plant, such as last time watered, health,
growing phase, and more. As your farming skill increases, the
information displayed will be more detailed.

Plant info Panel:

Watering menu:
Watering your plant
To water your plant, you
must have a container of
water in your inventory, eg: a
watering can. Right-click on
the plot and select the
amount of water to use.
 SKILLS
As well as the base traits you choose when starting a new
character, you can level-up several skills during the course of
playing the game. To upgrade/level-up your skills, you need to
gain experience, or XP points. To gain XP points in a particular
skill, all you need to do is actively use it. For example, to
upgrade you skill in combat using blunt weapons, (such as the
baseball bat, rolling pin etc), then you just need to kill Zombies
with that weapon. There is one other way to upgrade skills by
studying that subject. For example, if you find a book on
Carpentry, reading that book will help level up that skill.

Skill window: To bring up the Skills window, press

the C key. The various skills will be
listed, under the main categories
of Combat, Crafting, and Agility.

Current progress toward the next

level will be displayed, as well as
any available skill points, and how
many remaining XP points are
required before the next skill point.

Once you have an available skill

point, you can level-up any skill
that has reached the required XP,
displayed as a +, as below:

Skill level up:

 PLEASE NOTE:
There may be times that you have met the requirements
to level-up one or more skills, but have only one skill
point available. Once you use that skill point, you will
need to wait until you have another to level-up the
remaining skill.

Remaining
Available
xp until next
skill points
skill point

This skill has

reached level
one

These skills can

be levelled up
 INFO and HEALTH
You may have noticed two other tabs when looking at the
Skills window: Info and Health. The Info tab, (Hot-Key J),
displays information about your current character, such as
Name, age, traits, favourite weapon, number of Zombies killed,
and survival time.

The Health tab, (Hot-Key H), displays the current overall

body status of your character, and any damage/injuries.
(Another way to display the Health information is to click on
the heart icon from your main HUD.)

Info window:

Health window:
 SANDBOX MODE
This Sandbox Mode is basically the same in gameplay as the
Survival Mode, except that you can tweak many core settings
to suit your style and/or skill level:
Finding it too hard to find enough loot/supplies? You can
increase the rarity levels of loot.
Are the Zombies too hard or too easy for you? Change their
numbers, perception, speed, intelligence, and many other
settings as required.
After choosing a game save name in the same way as in
Survival mode, you are next taken to a screen with the various
options you can change for Sandbox Mode. Once you are
happy with the settings, you can proceed to the Character
creation screen as you did in the Survival Mode.

Sandbox Mode Options:

Choose your Zombies
The Zombie Lore options allow you to change fundamental
parameters for what type of Zombies you will encounter in
the game. The default setting is to use Proper Zombies,
which closest resemble what the PZ team envision how
Zombies should behave. (These are the same settings used in
the Survival Mode)

To change these settings, un-tick the Proper Zombies box.

You can now change various options to alter the default
Zombie behaviour do you want stupid, slow, and weak
Zombies? Maybe youd prefer to take on super-fast,
intelligent, and tough Zombies? Its up to you!

Zombie settings:
The HUD - MISCELLANEOUS
Here are some HUD components/options not specifically
covered earlier in the guide.

HUD Icons

HUD Icons
7: Displays the current time in the 24 hour clock format,
and the date and month.

8: These controls allow you to pause, play, and speed up

the in-game time. Useful when you want to skip forward
several hours quickly. For example, if when you wake up its
still dark outside, and youre not ready to venture out yet.

PLEASE NOTE:
The Hot-key V, will turn off all of the HUD elements for
maximum visibility. This can be toggled back on when
required.
 GAMEPAD CONTROLS
Currently in experimental testing, you can now use a
gamepad/joypad to control your character. An Xbox 360 or
compatible controller is recommended. Due to differences
between using keyboard/mouse and a gamepad, some game
mechanics, and the UI differ when using a controller. We will
briefly cover some of these.

Controller Layout
The layout is based on using an Xbox 360 controller. Re-
mapping buttons may be implemented in future releases.

Interact Loot/Inventory
Player
movement
Secondary
Action

Action
Navigate
Menus
Sneak/Aim

Combat

Cycle Cycle
Container Container
/Callout
 Button Prompts
When using a gamepad, there are some differences with how you
interact with objects in the game world, along with some other
changes to the UI and HUD. When using a controller, you will
receive prompts for relevant actions when they are available, and
the associated button to perform that action will be shown as
an icon on screen:

Options near closed window:

Options near opened window:

Two for one
The button prompts are context sensitive, and will change
depending on whats happening in the game world. For example, if
you arent standing near any objects, the button will default
to opening your inventory. However, when near a cupboard, shelf,
or other container, it will change to prompt you to Loot

Inventory

and Loot
 Interaction
The interaction button is the equivalent of the right-click for
the mouse controls. It lets you choose from options when there
are several available, as in the example below:

Choices, choices

Press on an item Item options

in your inventory to
access additional
actions. Use the D-pad
controls to highlight
the action you want,
and then use the
button to select.
Inventory and Loot Panels
When you press the button near a container, the Inventory
and Loot All panels will open. You can use the D-pad to move
between the two panels, and to navigate up and down. The
active panel will have a subtle green border around it.
*NOTE*: The panels normally open side-by-side.

Inventory and Loot

Switching Containers
Whether you are in the Inventory panel, or the Loot panel, you
may want to switch between available containers. To do this,
press the LB (Left Bumper) button on the controller to
change containers in your Inventory panel, (eg: between your
Primary inventory and a bag). For the Loot panel, press the
RB (Right Bumper) button to switch between any available
containers, (eg: drawers, refrigerator, box etc).

Switching

Changing
between
containers
SPLIT SCREEN
Currently in experimental testing, you can now play local
split-screen co-op with up to four players, although
probably best experienced with two players.

To start a split screen game, start and setup a Survival or

Sandbox game as per normal. Once the first player spawns,
press on the controller, and you will be given the option
to either Take over player 1, (for using a controller in single-
player mode), or Add another player. For a split screen
game, choose Add new player, then press again.

Lets split!

PLEASE NOTE:
Due to controller support still being at an experimental
stage, several in-game controls are currently disabled
for controller use, for example, the Building Menus are
not accessible via the controller.
LINKS and Disclaimer

Support Forum
http://theindiestone.com/community/viewforum.php?f=22

Project Zomboid About and Contacts

http://projectzomboid.com/blog/about-us/

The Project Zomboid Wiki

http://pzwiki.net/wiki/Main_Page

DISCLAIMER:
All information in this manual is subject to change
without notice, as Project Zomboid is still in active
development, and features may change at any time.

Thanks!
Thanks to The Indie Stone for developing THE
Zombie Survival RPG game, and thanks to the great
bunch of people that frequent the PZ forums

Manual created by: Mark EreWeGo Sanders